Digging for Richard III

The Search for the Lost King

The events of Richard III's reign and his death in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth are known worldwide through Shakespeare's most performed, filmed and translated history play. Digging for Richard III is the page-turning story of how his grave was found, the people behind the discovery and what it tells us. It is the first complete narrative of a project that blended passion, science, luck and detection. Told by a noted archaeologist with access to all the parties involved, it follows the quest from an idea born in an Edinburgh bookshop to the day, fourteen years later, when two archaeologists carefully raised the bones from a car park in Leicester, and the scientific studies that resulted.

Comment

For centuries, speculation had abounded with respect to the fate of King Richard III's remains: Were they removed to another location? Dug up, desecrated and scattered? Given Richard's reputation, the latter wouldn't have been surprising. However, in 2012, against all probability, the 500-year-old skeleton of the English king were exhumed from their original burial location in Leicester, England, and to the amazement of archaeologists, dignitaries, clergy and citizens alike, positively identified. It is an incredible story.

This 200 page book details the dig to find Richard III's bones and the people behind it. It was absolutely fascinating! It almost overly detailed a I skimmed some of the parts that covered the history of Leicester and some of minute details of the dig. I wish there was more on the autopsy and the controversy of the reburial. Great read for English history lovers and archaeology buffs!